Germany tries Syrians close to the Assad regime in drug trafficking cases

A German newspaper issued a report on drug trafficking in Syria, stating that suspects involved with the Syrian regime on charges of drug trafficking will soon be tried in Germany.

According to the report of the German newspaper “Der Spiegel”, issued on Tuesday, June 21, the trial of “Iyad S.” is scheduled to begin. And two other Syrians are soon in the German city of Essen, and the court proceedings are expected to shed light on the thriving drug trade under the control of the Syrian regime.

Investigations began in April 2020, when Romanian customs officials found 2.1 million Captagon pills hidden inside devices, worth about 43.5 million euros, inside a shipping container, and the shipment was on its way from Syria to Saudi Arabia via Romania.

The main accused, Iyad, 55, was “the chief logistics for drug dealers,” from the Syrian city of Latakia, where he ran an import and export company in the port, before the “Fourth Division” stopped its business in 2017, and is in charge of managing the port, according to the newspaper.

German investigators were able to link more than a ton of Hashish and more than a ton of “Captagon” to Iyad and his followers, with a value of about 130 million euros, according to the newspaper.

According to investigators, drug sales are carried out through “supporters” in Syria, who control the Captagon trade, and with the help of “logistical people” who previously fled to Europe.

Among Iyad's suspected accomplices is his colleague, "Mohamed B." who lives in Germany, and is believed to have been involved in drug smuggling in Syria even before he fled to Germany, according to the indictment against him, he reached a good position with members of the Assad family, which enabled him to live in one of the former best neighborhoods of Damascus, until he deceived his partners and forced to flee, according to the newspaper.

Two of the four suspects worked in influential positions in the port of Latakia, in addition to the fact that all the group's shipments came from the same port.

The investigators were convinced that all drug deals in Syria are under the protection of the Syrian regime, as they also found evidence that the "Fourth Division", led by Maher al-Assad, makes money from drug shipments, and they believe that the military unit gets 300,000 dollars for each container shipped from Latakia, According to the report.

Investigations revealed that the drug's detour across Europe is part of the plan, which aims to deceive customs officials in Saudi Arabia and Dubai because shipments from Europe are rarely examined.

In April 2020, Egyptian customs officials found in Port Said quantities of “Captagon” and Hashish packed in 19,000 containers, sourced from the Syrian “Milkman” company, which was owned at the time by Rami Makhlouf, the cousin of the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad, who in turn denied the involvement of his company.

Enab Baladi, on January 23, discussed the extent of the regime’s involvement and the Assad family’s use of its influence in the development of this trade in light of the deterioration of the Syrian economy, and its dependence as the first source of income, in addition to the regime’s use of drugs as a bargaining chip to achieve its interests, without holding it accountable or working to stop its expansion.

An investigation published by the American newspaper “New York Times” on December 5, 2021, proved that the “Fourth Division” of the Syrian regime forces led by Maher al-Assad, the younger brother of Bashar al-Assad, is responsible for the manufacture and export of Captagon, as well as the leadership of its trade, by businessmen with close ties to the regime, the “Hezbollah” group, and other members of the Assad family.

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